This invention relates to an improved bearing with an integral lantern ring for a rotary mechanical device and, more particularly, to an improved bearing with the lantern ring having offset outer and inner flush holes.
Rotary mechanical devices, such as mixers and centrifugal pumps, include an impeller mounted on a shaft which is driven by an electrical motor. The shaft passes through a seal cavity or a stuffing box defined by a cylindrical cavity in the device housing. The shaft is supported by bearings at the motor end, and seals are placed in the stuffing box to engage the shaft to prevent fluid from passing through the seal cavity and reaching the bearing and the motor, causing damage to both.
In mechanical pumps, chemical fluids or solvents being pumped, many of which are corrosive, enter the seal cavity. Accordingly, it is important that appropriate packing material is placed within the seal cavity. In addition, fluid such as seal water is pumped into the seal cavity through a flush port to prevent the fluid being pumped or mixed from travelling along the shaft to the bearings and motor and to provide lubricant to the packing. Over extended use, the pump shaft may develop a whip as the bearings wear. Thus, it is highly desirable to provide a sealing system that provides an effective seal and an additional bearing surface to reduce the whip that can occur as the shaft rotates, thus controlling the amount of seal fluid entering an outer lantern ring groove in the seal cavity.
While there are a wide variety of devices available for use in providing sealing in a seal cavity, it is desirable to provide a improved bearing and sealing system providing an additional bearing surface for the impeller end of the shaft and causing a reduction in the pumped or mixed fluid entering the seal cavity to be countered by the seal fluid and packing to provide advantages over available devices.